Chris Coelho

Chris Coelho is the author of The Popham Code Controversy (The Trafalgar Chronicle, New Series 5, 2020). The subject of this article is Sir Home Popham. Lord Nelson’s pre-battle signal at Trafalgar went down in history: ‘England expects that every man will do his duty.’ But the bitter fight over Nelson’s use of Popham’s flag code has been forgotten. Coelho is also the author of Pirates in Uniform: The Conspiracy to Invade Buenos Aires that Triggered a War (Amazon, 2019), about the origins of the British invasions of the Rio de la Plata, and Timothy Matlack: Scribe of the Declaration of Independence (McFarland, 2013).

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Autobiography and Biography, Critical Thinking, People, Political Philosophy, Politics During the War (1775-1783), Prewar Politics (<1775), The War Years (1775-1783) August 24, 2021 August 23, 2021

Timothy Matlack, Scribe of the Declaration of Independence

The scribe of the Declaration of Independence—and perhaps the first man to read it in public—was born on March 28, 1736 in Haddonfield, New…

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Critical Thinking, Documents, People, Politics During the War (1775-1783), Primary Sources July 1, 2021 June 28, 2021

The First Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

“We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . .” Who were the first people to hear Thomas Jefferson’s memorable words spoken in…